TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October, 1941
slip. I am a member of the Body of Christ. This is a blessed theme for meditation at the communion service.— A Modern Cyclopedia of Illustrations, by Hallock. Walking with Jesus J ohn 15:1-12 MEMORY VERSE: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have l o v e one to another” (John 13:35). APPROACH: Did you ever see a man pruning a vine ? Do you know which branches h e c u t s away ? He cuts back the ones t h a t are not b e a r i n g the fruit. After all, the vine isn’t of m u c h use unless there is fruit. Our l i v e s aren’t of much use either unless there is fruit there. Do you know what the fruit of the Spirit is? [Read the list in Galatians 5:22, 23.] LESSON STORY: Just before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, He gath ered His followers together and talked with them. Usually the last instruc tions given by a person are the most important ones. You will find that what Jesus said was very important. He told them that He was the Vine and that they were just the branches. He told them that they would have to abide in Him in order to bear fruit. Do you know what “abide” means ? It means to stay right there. If you and I will stay right with Christ, we will find that His presence in our lives will cause us to bear fruit. The very first fruit of the Spirit is love. God must have thought it was important to put it first. The Lord Jesus thought it was important, too, for He kept telling His followers to love one another. What does our memory verse say? If you want to show how much you love the Lord, love one an other. If you want \to learn how to love others, keep walking with Jesus each day. Can you sing, “And He walks with me, And He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own” ? Object Lesson W ires W ill N ot W ork OBJECTS: A potted plant, and three pieces of small wire, each about 2 feet long. (Remove one branch from the plant several hours before the lesson, to allow time for it to wilt, or heat it in a slow oven. Stick the w i l t e d branch in among the other branches before beginning the lesson. Shape one of the pieces of wire to spell “CHURCH,” another, “ COMMUNION,” and the thinj to spell “BAPTISM.” ) LESSON: In looking at this plant,
we notice that there is something wrong with it. Bill, what seems to be the mat ter? . . . “ One of the branches looks dead.” You are right. It has no connection with the plant. We are reminded of the words of the Lord Jesus in John 15:4, “ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it; abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” We would not expect this branch to live unless it were joined to the plant. Now we will try wiring the branch to the plant, and see whether it looks any different. Here is a wire, which spells “CHURCH.” I will fasten the branch to the plant with this wire. It is still wilted. All Christians should be members of some church, but the join ing of a church organization does not cause a dead sinner to be j o i n e d to Christ in living faith. This other wire spells “COMMUN ION.” The Lord’s Supper is a sacred M atth ew 6*$ A nd w h en th ou pra yea t, th ou «h a lt n o t be a « th e h y p o crite s are.) fo r th ey lo v e to p ra y standing; in th e sy n a g o g u e s and in th e co rn e rs o f th e stre e ts, th a t th ey m ay be seen o f V e rily I sa y u n to y o u , T h ey h a ve 0 R ut th ou , w h eq th ou p ra yest, en ter in to th y clo se t, and w h en th ou hast sh u t th y d oor, p ra y to th y F a th er w h ich is In s e cre t) and th y F a th e r w h ich seeth in se cre t sh a ll re w a rd th ee o p en ly. 7 B ut w h en y e p ra y, u se n ot va in r e p - etition s, as the h ea th en do* fo r th ey th in k i h"V ihey "hal1 be ,*e,,rd for thelr mach 8 Be n o t y e th e re fo re lik e u n to them ) fo r y o u r F a th e r k n o w e th w h a t th in g s 7 « h a ve need o f, b e fo re ye a sk him . 9 A fte r th is m an n er th e re fo re p ra y yet Our F a th er w h ich art in hea ven , H a llow ed b e th y nam e. 10 T h y k in g d om com e. T h y w ill be d on e In ea rth , a s it is in . h eaven . 11 G ive <>s this d a y ou r d a ily .bread. 12 A nd fo r g iv e u s o u r d ebts, as w e fo r g iv e ou r d eb tors. 13 A nd lead us n o t in to 'tem ptation» b u t d e liv e r us fro m e v il) F o r th in e is th e k in g d om , and th e p o w e r, and th e glory» fo r ever. Am en. 14 F o r if y e fo r g iv e m en th e ir tre s p a s s e s , y o u r h ea ven ly F a th e r w ill a lso fo r g iv e y o u : 15 B ut if ye fo r g iv e n o t m en th eir tresp a sses, n eith er w ill y o n r F a th e r fo r g iv e y o u r trespasses. Q ph esians 5*20 G iv in g th a n k s a lw a y s fo r a ll th in g s u n to G od and th e F a th er in th e nam e o f o u r L ord Jesu s C hrist. BLACKBOARD LESSON rew ard .
service, but it cannot unite a person with Christ; it is for those who have already been joined to Christ by faith. The branch is still wilted. The third wire spells “BAPTISM.” Christ commanded His disciples to go into all the world with the gospel and to baptize those who believed. Their be lieving in Christ as Saviour saved them, and n9t their being baptized. All three wires cannot restore life to the wilted branch. Even so, nothing but faith in Christ as Saviour brings life to dead sinners.
NOVEMBER 23, 1941 PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING
P salm 103; 107; M atthew 6:5-15; J ohn 17:1-26; E phesians 5:18-21; P hilippians 4 :6 ; 1 T hessalonians 5:16-18; 1 J ohn 5:14, 15.
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1 T h essa lon ia n s 5*16 R e jo ice everm ore, 17 P ra y w ith o u t ceasing;, 18 In e v e ry th in g g iv e th a n k s t fo r this m en. is. the w ill o f G od in C hristJesu s c o n - LESSON T E X T : M att. 6:5-1$) E ph. 5:20; GOLDEN T E X T : «P ra y w ith ou t cea sin g, 1 T hess. 5*16-18. In e v e ry th in g g iv e thanks'* (1 T hess. D E V O T ION A L R E A D IN G * P sa. 107:23-31. Outline and Exposition L T he M anner of P rayer (Matt. 6:5-15) J ESUS WARNED the disciples against p r a y i n g hypocritically. “Hypocrite” means “actor,” that is, one who acts a part without exhib iting reality. In the matter of prayer, the Lord’s followers are to seek the hid den place, to be seen and heard by God, not of men. Both the hypocrite and true disciple of the Lord have their reward; the hypocrite receives the tem porary praise of men, while the disciple obtains the abiding blessing of God. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus warned the disciples against praying as the heathen do. Their p r a y e r is looked upon as being a sort of charm offered to an impersonal god, and the answer to prayer becomes a matter of chance. Believers pray to a p e r s o n a l God, through Jesus C h r i s t their Lord; in prayer, therefore, t h e r e is a definite transaction with God. Note that both heathen and believers profess depend ence upon unseen powers. The Lord Jesus gave His disciples the true manner of prayer in this passage. First, there ard three petitions hav- 5*17, 18). — ..... . th e ir ce rn ln g you . ■
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